MATCH REPORT: Yorkshire Men v Derbyshire Falcons, Vitality Blast

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Heroes on home debut. AJ Tye and Hassan Ali turned the game around with lower order runs, securing a remarkable victory. Tye was making his Headingley bow, while this was Ali’s debut for the county full stop. 

SCORECARD 

Yorkshire v Derbyshire Falcons

Vitality Blast, Men

Sunday May 24, 2026, 3.30pm

Headingley

Toss: Derbyshire won it and elected to bat.

Teams – Yorkshire: Adam Lyth, Jonny Bairstow c/w, Will Luxton, James Wharton, Moeen Ali, Matthew Revis, George Hill, Dom Bess, Jafer Chohan, AJ Tye, Hasan Ali.

Derbyshire: Nye Donald c/w, Martin Andersson, Caleb Jewell, Wayne Madsen, Matthew Montgomery, Ross Whiteley, Amrit Basra, Nick Potts, Ben Aitchison, Akif Javed, Jack Morley.

Match summary: Yorkshire made it two wins out of two in the Vitality Blast thanks to an astonishing ninth-wicket partnership between AJ Tye and debutant Hassan Ali.

The match seemed to be sliding away despite a stylish half century from Moeen Ali, with 56 still needed from 27 balls and only two wickets remaining when Ali joined Tye in the middle.

But they unleashed such a blitz of fours and sixes that victory was secured with four balls to spare, Tye ending unbeaten on 32 from 13 balls, and Ali on 31 from 12 – much to the noisy enjoyment of a sun-baked crowd of 6,246.

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Captain Jonny Bairstow congratulates AJ Tye after victory over Derbyshire.

Report: Derbyshire won the toss and chose to bat on a stifling afternoon. But Yorkshire’s bowlers and fielders responded well to the conditions, keeping the Falcons largely in check until the last over of their innings – when Ross Whiteley cut loose.

Hassan Ali, the Pakistan veteran who came in for his Yorkshire debut, claimed the first wicket in his first over when he had Nye Donald lofting to mid on, where AJ Tye made no mistake – setting the tone for a safe-handed White Rose fielding display.

Caleb Jewell looked dangerous for a while until he launched a full toss from Tye to Matthew Revis at deep cover, and Revis then made an immediate impression when he came on to bowl the eighth over, having the veteran Wayne Madsen caught at mid off from his first delivery.

That left Derbyshire 63 for three but they responded with an excellent fourth-wicket stand of 73 between opener Martin Andersson and in-form Matthew Montgomery.

Yorkshire mixed up their bowlers, with Jafer Chohan’s spin complementing the big seamers, and it was Chohan who finally broke the stand when he deceived Montgomery for a well-made 35.

That brought in Whiteley, who will always have fond memories of Headingley after hitting six sixes in an over here for Worcestershire. Until the start of the 20^th over he was largely kept in check, with Derbyshire on 170 for four. But they added a further 24, with Whiteley hitting two sixes and a four to dent Tye’s final figures.

Andersson ended with a career best 81 not out off 56 balls, having batted throughout the innings – quite an effort given the heat. 

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. A picture perfect day weather wise at Headingley today, for our first Vitality Blast double header of 2026. 

Lyth raced out of the blocks when Yorkshire replied, launching two sixes in the second over and a third in the next.

He looked furious with himself when he chipped to mid wicket in the same over, and skipper Jonny Bairstow was clearly equally annoyed when given lbw off Jack Morley in the next over.

James Wharton, Will Luxton and Matthew Revis all fell cheaply but Moeen kept the scoreboard ticking over, with reaching his half century from 33 balls with consecutive sixes in the 15^th over – his fourth and fifth.

But he was out later in that over, mistiming to deep cover, and when Dom Bess holed out in the next, Derbyshire’s recent T20 domination over Yorkshire seemed set to continue.

But Tye and Ali had other ideas.

Magic moment: There were any number of remarkable shots in the match-winning stand but Hassan Ali’s six into the Howard Stand from the first ball of the 19^th over took the biscuit – especially as the Pakistani held the pose for a good few seconds to marvel at his classic on drive.

Turning point: In the previous over, Tye came perilously close to holing out to deep mid wicket, with Jack Morley getting two hands to the ball, but unable to stop it crossing the rope for six.

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Hassan Ali with the mic drop celebration, making for an instantly iconic photograph. 

Stat of the match: Neither of Yorkshire’s ninth-wicket heroes, AJ Tye and Hasan Ali, has scored a half century in a combined total of 490 T20 appearances. They still haven’t, but that doesn’t mean they can’t bat.

What they said – Yorkshire seamer AJ Tye: “It probably wasn’t the best from me with the ball, that last over I bowled wasn’t executed very well. But we got on a roll, and Has hit some unbelievable shots as well – it took a partnership to win that game, it wasn’t just me.

“The way his intent was from his first ball showed we were in business, and wanted to win the game.

“We just said let’s go, hit some good shots, and then just countdown. We’re both pretty experienced cricketers.

“Lythy got us off to a good start, and Moeen is such an experienced campaigner. A good bloke, and so fluent with the bat – it’s an awesome addition to the team.

“It’s a good start, but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. There’s a lot of games to play. We’ll just keep building.”

What’s next: Yorkshire make the short trip to Durham on Friday night (630pm start) for their third group match in the Vitality Blast.

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Moeen Ali kept Yorkshire alive with a fine 51 off 35 balls before the carnage at the end from AJ Tye and Hassan Ali.